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Pan Handle

Blue Showdown, MT

Steepest pitch23°
Vertical424 ft
Length1,954 ft
Average pitch13°
FacesSE
Top7,990 ft

Pan Handle drops 424 vertical feet over 1,954 feet of skiing, with a steepest pitch of 23° about 1,890 feet below the top. That's steeper than 66% of the 5,615 blue runs we've measured in North America, and the 17th steepest of 34 named runs at Showdown. It faces southeast.

How well Pan Handle holds snow

Snow preservationPoor

Facing southeast at an average 13°, Pan Handle gets about 123% of the winter sun that flat ground at Showdown does, December through March. That's sunnier than 88% of the runs we've measured, and the 5th sunniest named run at Showdown. Its top sits at 7,990 feet.

Angled toward the low winter sun, it bakes: powder turns heavy soon after a storm, and in spring it softens early in the day and refreezes hard overnight. Shading from ridges and trees isn't counted yet.

Pan Handle profile

under 25°25–35°35–45°45°+ Hover to follow the line on the map.

Where it is on the mountain

Runs like Pan Handle elsewhere

Nearby at Showdown

Measured by ZRankings from 1-meter USGS lidar. Steepest pitch is the steepest stretch of about 50 vertical feet along the skiable line. Run lines come from OpenStreetMap and can sit a little off the skied path.